The Dark Mark
by PansyParkinslut
Summary: The Trio has just escaped from Gringotts, only they're not as unscathed as they'd like to believe. There's a reason it was the Death Eaters who used polyjuice to impersonate people and not the other way around and now Hermione knows why. Sure she reverted back to her original form, but she wasn't completely herself anymore, she'd brought some of Bellatrix - Her Dark Mark


Chapter One

Hermione sat on a low hill just beyond the tent; she couldn't believe it, they'd actually broken into Gringotts. Staring out across the lake, she watched the dragon continue to lap up water as she absentmindedly traced her fingers over her arm. She could feel the ridges of the scar Bellatrix had given her and looked back towards the tent. She could hear Ron's snores from where she was and if she squinted just right, she could see tuffs of black hair where Harry was sleeping.

With a sigh, Hermione looked back down at her arm and let her gaze trail down towards her wrist; no matter how many times she checked, the black mark just wouldn't disappear. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, polyjuice potion just wasn't her cup of tea. Pulling her sleeve back down her arm she looked back across the lake, the dragon seemed to be napping just past the banks now. She never thought she'd wish to be part cat again, but then again, it wasn't like she'd come out of that ordeal completely unscathed either. Her 'I' teeth would always be that much pointier than everyone else's and her eyesight would always be just that much better too. Still, anything was better than having the Dark Mark permanently branded onto your skin.

Bracing herself as she saw the sun start to dip down beyond the horizon, she went to wake up her boys. Harry had wanted to take off to Hogwarts as soon as he'd had the vision, but Hermione had managed to convince him to get some sleep. She knew as soon as they got there, there would be no chance of sleep for a while. Ron had tried to get her to sleep too, with himself taking watch, but she knew there was no way she'd be able to sleep after discovering her newest mar.

Gently shaking Harry awake, she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before moving over to Ron to wake him as well. They all knew there would be no time to eat and quickly packed up the tent in silence and before she knew it, they were all grasping hands and she was apparating them to Hogsmeade.

The village was deserted, shops were boarded up and by the looks of it, people's homes were too; it reminded Hermione of Diagon Alley. It had an eerie air too it, the air was heavy and full of magic; Hermione got an uneasy feeling from it. Not letting go of Ron or Harry's hands, she lead them down behind the shops and shook her head when Ron started moving towards Honeydukes, "Snape knows about that passage, Ron," she whispered as she continued leading them out of the village. Once they hit the tree line she let out a sigh of relief; she could breathe easy again. Maybe they should have apparated near the front gates, rather than to Hogsmeade.

Following what seemed to be animal trails, she led them in a wide loop around the grounds. Coming out where the forest was closest to the castle, she hoped that they'd be able to get in without going through the main doors; there was no telling what sorts of curses or alarms Snape put on them. Tightening her grip on their hands, she crept towards the courtyard before turning to Harry, "Do you have the map?" she asked in an undertone. She couldn't believe she didn't think of it before. Quickly searching it as he held it out to her, she signalled for him to keep it out as she carefully pushed Ron past the small door leading to the courtyard before following, all but dragging Harry behind her. If they were going to be caught by anyone, she just hoped they were on their side.

Once they'd managed to get into the castle, Harry started leading them up towards the Room of Requirement. They didn't know what they were going to do now and needed somewhere safe to plan. Hermione only hoped Snape didn't somehow find a way to block it after last year. As it turned out, it didn't matter what Snape had done to it, they never made it. Just as they left one secret passage way on their way to another off the fifth floor, Harry saw Professor McGonagall heading their way on the map, "Bollocks," Hermione heard Ron whisper as the light from her wand fell on them.

It wasn't a painful interrogation at least, but it came close a few times when Ron let his temper get the best of him and even more so once Flickwit and Sprout showed up demanding to see their arms; they knew as well as anyone, there was no covering up a Dark Mark, glamours or otherwise. It took Harry lashing out and telling them why they were there for McGonagall to realize it was them. As it turned out, Dumbledore had told her a little more than he'd told the others. It was then that Sprout mentioned the others hiding out in the Room of Requirement and Hermione got the bright idea of using their DA coins to let them know they were there. Quickly sending out a message they were at Hogwarts, the teachers carefully lead them up to the seventh floor and with the use of Harry's map, managed to make it undetected. Sending out one last message that they were at the entrance, Hermione held her breath as the ROR doors came into view.

It was impressive, to say the least and Hermione couldn't help but be proud of Neville; he'd change so much over the years. No longer was he the chubby little boy she'd been forced to petrify in the Gryffindor Common room. Hermione only wished there had been some Slytherins who'd come looking for shelter; she knew house unity was going to become very important very soon. Wanting nothing more than to just fall onto one of the cots and sleep for a year, she knew she couldn't just yet; there was still so much they had to do. And destroying Hufflepuff's cup was at the top of her list.

A few quick hellos and Hermione was feeling the panic set in of being around so many people. It had been almost a year out on the run with only two other people around her, and now here she was surrounded by them. It wasn't long before Harry ran off to the Ravenclaw common room with Luna and Hermione had the chance to make her escape. Creeping down to the prefect bathroom, she warded the portrait and couldn't help but pull up her sleeve. Closing her eyes, she bit back her tears; she had no idea what she was going to do.

It wasn't like she could just go tell anyone what happened, what were the chances of them believing her. People don't just go around using polyjuice to turn into a death eater; it's usually the other way around. Giving her head a quick shake she pushed the thoughts from her mind. Sure Harry would understand, but she was positive no one else would. She was to be either an imposter or a traitor, and she didn't know which she'd rather be if it were found. She could just imagine the look on Voldemort's face if he ever found out a mudblood was carrying his mark.

Shedding her clothes, she dived into the pool and began making languid laps through the warm water. Feeling the dirt wash off her as she bathed was more relaxing than she'd care to admit. She wasn't sure when the last time she'd been able to let her guard down and not have to worry about anything was.

Close to an hour later, she begrudgingly pulled herself from the tub and dripped her over towards the pile of towels. Wishing she could just fall onto them and sleep, she dried off and pulled a cleaner set of clothes from her beaded bag. Plaiting back her hair into a tight braid, she was ready; taking a deep breath she carefully let herself back out into the hall. It was then that she wished she'd taken the map; at least Harry had his cloak.

It was Severus Snape. She had two choices, she could make a run for it – there was a tapestry not far that led to one of the secret passage ways marked on the map – and hope she could lose him, or she could pretend to be a Death Eater under polyjuice potion. She was leaning towards the safer of the two; after all she had no proof other than the black smear on her arm.

Hermione was trying to decide if she could make it to the passageway before he could get her when she was saved by the bell so to speak. A strange tingling sensation appeared on her arm, growing more and more urgent with each breath. She saw Snape grab his forearm and he eyes widened in shock. She could feel the Dark Mark burning; only it appeared to be worse for the man standing in front of her. Hermione opened her mouth as if to say something before the Headmaster disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Letting out a small groan of pain she hurried behind the tapestry and yanked up her sleeve. The mark was angrier than she'd ever seen it, blacker too if it was possible. The snake was dancing across her arm and the skull appeared to be scowling at her, as if it were trying to hurry her up. Hermione was sure she was seeing things. The Dark Mark was essentially a tattoo, and tattoos didn't move. Even in the magical world, right? She shook her head, of course she was right, Sirius was covered in various tattoos and none of his ever moved.

The tingling had turned to burning not long after she'd made it to the hidden passageway and had only been getting worse ever since. With a desperate wave of her wand a black cloak spilled from her bag and she hastily tugged it over herself. She didn't know what she was doing only that she had to get the pain to stop. Grabbing a piece of crumbled stone from the ground nearby, she'd hardly had time to transfigure it into one of those strange silver masks the other Death Eaters wore before it felt like she was being sucked into her mark.

**A/N: I'm posting this story back up here after much consideration. I've extended the first chapter slightly, but still am not too sure about it. I'd greatly appreciate any input (Good or bad) This is more of a feeler than a definite chapter**


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